Re:Jupiter Awaits Arrival of Juno
by dr_zoidberg on Monday June 27, 2016 @10:46AM
(#11986458)
They've been exploring smaller designs with better efficiency. Not just because of the shortage, but also because evergy gram counts in a spacecraft...
Well maybe every kilogram, but you got my point. Any savings in mass count, and if you get to cut 1% from the spacecrafts final mass, it can mean a lot in terms of speed and timings for the mission.
The thermophotovoltaic cells look lik a very interesting approach, don't know why they haven't been used yet. With them, Cassini could've used 2 RTGs instead of 3, resulting in a mass saving of 57.5 kg (2% lower dry mass from one less RTG) and some extra power. I do take into account that this technology ws probably not developed enough when Cassini launched.
Well maybe every kilogram, but you got my point. Any savings in mass count, and if you get to cut 1% from the spacecrafts final mass, it can mean a lot in terms of speed and timings for the mission.
Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...
The thermophotovoltaic cells look lik a very interesting approach, don't know why they haven't been used yet. With them, Cassini could've used 2 RTGs instead of 3, resulting in a mass saving of 57.5 kg (2% lower dry mass from one less RTG) and some extra power. I do take into account that this technology ws probably not developed enough when Cassini launched.